11 murder cases working their way through county courts

Published: Sunday, December 16, 2012 at 4:30 a.m.

Last Modified: Saturday, December 15, 2012 at 8:33 p.m.

Eleven murder cases stemming from crimes committed as far back as 2009 are currently making their way through the criminal justice system. Six of the killings were committed in 2012.

Man found dead in Bat Cave

Co-workers of Walter Cleveland Davis, 52, found him dead in his home at 27 Minihaha Drive in Bat Cave on Oct. 11. They went to check on him after he failed to show up to work at the Esmeralda Inn Wednesday and Thursday, which they told officers was unusual for Davis.

Davis was bludgeoned to death, said Capt. Frank Stout of the Henderson County Sheriff's Office. Investigators are waiting on autopsy reports to confirm how long Davis had been deceased.

Twenty-nine-year-old Daniel Clay Moore, a houseguest of the deceased, was found with personal property belonging to Davis. He has been charged with first-degree murder, larceny and possession of stolen goods. He is set to appear in Henderson County Superior Court on Dec. 17.

Police: Woman runs over boyfriend

Morgan Elizabeth Bishop, 24, of Summit Knoll Park, was charged with first-degree murder after police say she killed Roger Stuart Moody, 45, of the same address, with her car at about 11:30 p.m. June 29 on U.S. Highway 176 in East Flat Rock.

Investigators found Bishop's Honda, the vehicle they believe struck Moody, while they were notifying Moody's next of kin of his death. Police say the couple had a history of domestic violence.

Bishop is being held in lieu of $500,000 bond. Attorney Greg Newman requested a mental health evaluation conducted Aug. 17, which found that his client "was capable of proceeding," according to court records. Bishop is set to appear in front of a grand jury on June 24.

Man dies after motel brawl

Roy Franklyn Fisher, 50, was charged with second-degree murder after a fight at Bonaire Motel on May 10 ended in the death of 53-year-old Randal Honeycutt.

An autopsy revealed that Honeycutt died from blunt force trauma to his head. He was pronounced dead at Pardee Hospital. A toxicology report showed Honeycutt's blood alcohol level at the time of his death was .29, three times the legal limit for driving.

Relatives say a hospital turned Fisher away when he came to the hospital the night before the shooting in need of mental health treatment.

Fisher was being held in the Henderson County Detention Center in lieu of a $200,000 secured bond. He is set to appear in Superior Court on June 24.

Man gunned down at flea market

Police say Paul Allen Bradish, 59, of Asheville was gunned down at Smiley's Flea Market Feb. 26. Witnesses say the shooting happened after an argument Bradish had with Otha Ray Barefoot, 26, of Greer, S.C., over the prices of tools they were selling.

Bradish was shot five times, according to an autopsy, which found that he died from a non-exiting gunshot wound to the head.

Barefoot has been charged with murder. He was released from the Henderson County Detention Center on a $250,000 secured bond on May 3. He is scheduled to appear in Superior Court June 24.

Suspected suicide ends in murder charge

A Saluda man faces a murder charge in connection with the February death of his friend, Joshua William Lindsay, 23. According to investigative reports, Lindsay had been staying at a lake house with friends and was found dead in a bedroom.

Lindsay's death was initially reported as a self-inflicted gunshot wound at 2643 Macedonia Rd. in Saluda on Feb. 22. Brandon Cody-Lee Case, 23, was later charged with his murder.

An autopsy report revealed other injuries, including blunt force trauma with lacerations and abrasions on his forehead, nose, left cheek, left hand and contusions on his lower extremities. According to the autopsy, Lindsay died from a large caliber, non-exiting gunshot wound to the face and neck at an indeterminate range.

Case was released in June on a $500,000 bond and is set to appear before a grand jury June 24.

Man confesses to wife's killing

Shelby Wilkie had hired a divorce lawyer and was going to leave her husband, who had been charged with assaulting her in March, friends and family members said. But the 38-year-old new mother never got the chance.

Wilkie's body was found Dec. 29, 2011 and her husband, Michael Leroy Wilkie of Hendersonville, was arrested and charged with her murder. Police say he has confessed to the killing.

Search warrants state that Shelby Wilkie told family members she planned to leave her husband Jan. 4 and that "Michael had threatened to kill her if she tried to leave him."

The warrants state that a Luminol examination of the couple's Moody Street home indicates blood splatter, pooling and drag marks.

Investigators found Shelby Wilkie's remains in a 55-gallon barrel near the home of Michael Wilkie's parents off Kanuga Lake Road, where they said he fled with remnants of her body burned in the barrel behind the Moody Street residence.

Wilkie is set to appear in Henderson County Superior Court Dec. 17.

Man charged in strangulation death of girlfriend

A woman found dead in her Hendersonville home in January 2011 was bound and gagged, sexually assaulted and choked to death, according to an autopsy. Police said her three young children were in the home when authorities discovered her body.

Officers found Victoria Jon-Baptiste, 27, at 12:40 p.m. Jan. 12 at 1119 Park St. Her hands were bound with a telephone cord that extended from around her neck and back to her hands, according to the report.

The cause of death was listed as asphyxiation caused by strangulation.

Jon-Baptiste's boyfriend, Eric Cornell Wilson, has been charged with her murder. His address, according to court records, was the same as Jon-Baptiste's.

Wilson is being held in the Henderson County jail in lieu of a $250,000 secured bond. He was originally charged with the second-degree kidnapping of Jon-Baptiste and violating a restraining order, but those charges were upgraded to first-degree murder.

Jon-Baptiste was granted a domestic violence protective order against Wilson in November 2010, and that order was to remain in effect until Nov. 22, 2011, according to court records. Wilson is set to appear before a grand jury on Dec. 17.

Man shot and killed answering knock at motel door

Thomas Tinajero, 36, died of a gunshot wound to the head after answering a knock on his hotel room door in October at the Southern Aire Motel on Chimney Rock Road. He was taken to a hospital, where he was later pronounced dead.

The man charged with his murder had a clean record until the Oct. 4, 2011 shooting. Police arrested Jonathan Chad Walker, 34, of Fletcher shortly after the shooting when Walker's truck crashed through a nearby fence. Neighbors called 911 when they heard the collision and came out to investigate. They said that the suspect yelled, "They are chasing me, call the police!"

Walker has been charged with first-degree murder and discharging a weapon into an occupied dwelling. Prosecutors announced in November 2011 that they would not seek the death penalty because the case lacked necessary aggravating factors under the law and Walker had no prior criminal record.

Walker is set to appear in Henderson County Superior Court on June 24.

Man charged with murder after week on the lam

In April 2011, the Transylvania County Sheriff's Office led a nearly week-long manhunt to find Charles Richard O'Shields, who was charged with the first-degree murder in the shooting death of Toby Maxwell Mathis, 27, of Lake Toxaway.

The Sheriff's Office said O'Shields walked into the Dollar General in Rosman on April 6 and shot Mathis five times then fled in an SUV driven by his sister.

Investigators said the shooting was prompted by O'Shields' anger over Mathis' role in the death of O'Shields' son. Mathis had been charged with involuntary manslaughter after 20-year-old Joey Michael O'Shields fell to his death from the back of a pickup truck in December 2010. Mathis had been driving the truck at the time.

O'Shields is set to appear in Transylvania County Superior Court on April 15.

Former public servant charged in wife's murder

A former police officer with a long history of public service was charged with murder in 2011 after the death of his wife.

According to court records, Travis McGraw, 45, told a woman he was romantically involved with that he was planning to end his marriage to Vanessa Mintz, 53, the weekend Mintz was murdered.

McGraw is charged with the first-degree murder of Mintz, who died from a gunshot wound to the head on Feb. 19, 2011 at Saluda Mountain Lodge, a family business. McGraw, of Hendersonville, was arrested four days after Mintz's body was found.

McGraw had no prior criminal record or history of domestic violence, according to his attorney, Tony Dalton.

Dalton told the court that his client is "an EMT, firefighter and was in the U.S. Air Force until he was honorably discharged in the fall of last year. He is a disabled policeman from the Fletcher Police Department." He told the judge that McGraw "built his life doing public service."

Assistant District Attorney Beth Dierauf said McGraw had been given an ultimatum by his mistress to tell Mintz about the affair.

McGraw's most recent appearance in court was in October, when it was decided he would not face the death penalty and his bond was set at $750,000. He remains in Polk County jail. The next court date for McGraw has not been determined, according to the Polk County Clerk of Court's office.

Woman's charred remains found along Parkway

The charred remains of a pregnant Mountain Home woman were found by a passerby along the Blue Ridge Parkway near mile marker 395 in Buncombe County in October 2009.

An autopsy report showed 21-year-old Misty Lynn Carter died of chop wounds to the head. The North Henderson High School graduate was six weeks pregnant. A driver spotted her unclothed body on the side of the Parkway at 6:32 a.m. Oct. 19, 2009.

Investigators suspect Carter was not alive when her body was set on fire. According to investigative reports, Carter was found with a singed sheet and melted plastic wrapped around her head.

Jermaine Deprie Glover, 39, was indicted for first-degree murder by a grand jury and is being held in the Henderson County Detention Center under a $1 million bond. His address was listed as the same as Carter's, but he was not the father of her unborn child.

His public defender, Todd Williams, said that at the time of the crime, Glover had traveled to South Carolina and returned to Henderson County later that night.

<p>Eleven murder cases stemming from crimes committed as far back as 2009 are currently making their way through the criminal justice system. Six of the killings were committed in 2012.</p><p><b>Man found dead in Bat Cave</b></p><p>Co-workers of Walter Cleveland Davis, 52, found him dead in his home at 27 Minihaha Drive in Bat Cave on Oct. 11. They went to check on him after he failed to show up to work at the Esmeralda Inn Wednesday and Thursday, which they told officers was unusual for Davis.</p><p>Davis was bludgeoned to death, said Capt. Frank Stout of the Henderson County Sheriff's Office. Investigators are waiting on autopsy reports to confirm how long Davis had been deceased.</p><p>Twenty-nine-year-old Daniel Clay Moore, a houseguest of the deceased, was found with personal property belonging to Davis. He has been charged with first-degree murder, larceny and possession of stolen goods. He is set to appear in Henderson County Superior Court on Dec. 17.</p><p><b>Police: Woman runs over boyfriend</b></p><p>Morgan Elizabeth Bishop, 24, of Summit Knoll Park, was charged with first-degree murder after police say she killed Roger Stuart Moody, 45, of the same address, with her car at about 11:30 p.m. June 29 on U.S. Highway 176 in East Flat Rock.</p><p>Investigators found Bishop's Honda, the vehicle they believe struck Moody, while they were notifying Moody's next of kin of his death. Police say the couple had a history of domestic violence.</p><p>Bishop is being held in lieu of $500,000 bond. Attorney Greg Newman requested a mental health evaluation conducted Aug. 17, which found that his client "was capable of proceeding," according to court records. Bishop is set to appear in front of a grand jury on June 24.</p><p><b>Man dies after motel brawl</b></p><p>Roy Franklyn Fisher, 50, was charged with second-degree murder after a fight at Bonaire Motel on May 10 ended in the death of 53-year-old Randal Honeycutt.</p><p>An autopsy revealed that Honeycutt died from blunt force trauma to his head. He was pronounced dead at Pardee Hospital. A toxicology report showed Honeycutt's blood alcohol level at the time of his death was .29, three times the legal limit for driving.</p><p>Relatives say a hospital turned Fisher away when he came to the hospital the night before the shooting in need of mental health treatment.</p><p>Fisher was being held in the Henderson County Detention Center in lieu of a $200,000 secured bond. He is set to appear in Superior Court on June 24.</p><p><b>Man gunned down at flea market</b></p><p>Police say Paul Allen Bradish, 59, of Asheville was gunned down at Smiley's Flea Market Feb. 26. Witnesses say the shooting happened after an argument Bradish had with Otha Ray Barefoot, 26, of Greer, S.C., over the prices of tools they were selling.</p><p>Bradish was shot five times, according to an autopsy, which found that he died from a non-exiting gunshot wound to the head.</p><p>Barefoot has been charged with murder. He was released from the Henderson County Detention Center on a $250,000 secured bond on May 3. He is scheduled to appear in Superior Court June 24.</p><p><b>Suspected suicide ends in murder charge</b></p><p>A Saluda man faces a murder charge in connection with the February death of his friend, Joshua William Lindsay, 23. According to investigative reports, Lindsay had been staying at a lake house with friends and was found dead in a bedroom.</p><p>Lindsay's death was initially reported as a self-inflicted gunshot wound at 2643 Macedonia Rd. in Saluda on Feb. 22. Brandon Cody-Lee Case, 23, was later charged with his murder.</p><p>An autopsy report revealed other injuries, including blunt force trauma with lacerations and abrasions on his forehead, nose, left cheek, left hand and contusions on his lower extremities. According to the autopsy, Lindsay died from a large caliber, non-exiting gunshot wound to the face and neck at an indeterminate range.</p><p>Case was released in June on a $500,000 bond and is set to appear before a grand jury June 24.</p><p><b>Man confesses to wife's killing</b></p><p>Shelby Wilkie had hired a divorce lawyer and was going to leave her husband, who had been charged with assaulting her in March, friends and family members said. But the 38-year-old new mother never got the chance.</p><p>Wilkie's body was found Dec. 29, 2011 and her husband, Michael Leroy Wilkie of Hendersonville, was arrested and charged with her murder. Police say he has confessed to the killing.</p><p>Search warrants state that Shelby Wilkie told family members she planned to leave her husband Jan. 4 and that "Michael had threatened to kill her if she tried to leave him."</p><p>The warrants state that a Luminol examination of the couple's Moody Street home indicates blood splatter, pooling and drag marks.</p><p>Investigators found Shelby Wilkie's remains in a 55-gallon barrel near the home of Michael Wilkie's parents off Kanuga Lake Road, where they said he fled with remnants of her body burned in the barrel behind the Moody Street residence.</p><p>Wilkie is set to appear in Henderson County Superior Court Dec. 17.</p><p><b>Man charged in strangulation death of girlfriend</b></p><p>A woman found dead in her Hendersonville home in January 2011 was bound and gagged, sexually assaulted and choked to death, according to an autopsy. Police said her three young children were in the home when authorities discovered her body.</p><p>Officers found Victoria Jon-Baptiste, 27, at 12:40 p.m. Jan. 12 at 1119 Park St. Her hands were bound with a telephone cord that extended from around her neck and back to her hands, according to the report.</p><p>The cause of death was listed as asphyxiation caused by strangulation.</p><p>Jon-Baptiste's boyfriend, Eric Cornell Wilson, has been charged with her murder. His address, according to court records, was the same as Jon-Baptiste's.</p><p>Wilson is being held in the Henderson County jail in lieu of a $250,000 secured bond. He was originally charged with the second-degree kidnapping of Jon-Baptiste and violating a restraining order, but those charges were upgraded to first-degree murder.</p><p>Jon-Baptiste was granted a domestic violence protective order against Wilson in November 2010, and that order was to remain in effect until Nov. 22, 2011, according to court records. Wilson is set to appear before a grand jury on Dec. 17.</p><p><b>Man shot and killed answering knock at motel door</b></p><p>Thomas Tinajero, 36, died of a gunshot wound to the head after answering a knock on his hotel room door in October at the Southern Aire Motel on Chimney Rock Road. He was taken to a hospital, where he was later pronounced dead.</p><p>The man charged with his murder had a clean record until the Oct. 4, 2011 shooting. Police arrested Jonathan Chad Walker, 34, of Fletcher shortly after the shooting when Walker's truck crashed through a nearby fence. Neighbors called 911 when they heard the collision and came out to investigate. They said that the suspect yelled, "They are chasing me, call the police!"</p><p>Walker has been charged with first-degree murder and discharging a weapon into an occupied dwelling. Prosecutors announced in November 2011 that they would not seek the death penalty because the case lacked necessary aggravating factors under the law and Walker had no prior criminal record.</p><p>Walker is set to appear in Henderson County Superior Court on June 24.</p><p><b>Man charged with murder after week on the lam</b></p><p>In April 2011, the Transylvania County Sheriff's Office led a nearly week-long manhunt to find Charles Richard O'Shields, who was charged with the first-degree murder in the shooting death of Toby Maxwell Mathis, 27, of Lake Toxaway.</p><p>The Sheriff's Office said O'Shields walked into the Dollar General in Rosman on April 6 and shot Mathis five times then fled in an SUV driven by his sister.</p><p>Investigators said the shooting was prompted by O'Shields' anger over Mathis' role in the death of O'Shields' son. Mathis had been charged with involuntary manslaughter after 20-year-old Joey Michael O'Shields fell to his death from the back of a pickup truck in December 2010. Mathis had been driving the truck at the time.</p><p>O'Shields is set to appear in Transylvania County Superior Court on April 15.</p><p><b>Former public servant charged in wife's murder</b></p><p>A former police officer with a long history of public service was charged with murder in 2011 after the death of his wife.</p><p>According to court records, Travis McGraw, 45, told a woman he was romantically involved with that he was planning to end his marriage to Vanessa Mintz, 53, the weekend Mintz was murdered.</p><p>McGraw is charged with the first-degree murder of Mintz, who died from a gunshot wound to the head on Feb. 19, 2011 at Saluda Mountain Lodge, a family business. McGraw, of Hendersonville, was arrested four days after Mintz's body was found.</p><p>McGraw had no prior criminal record or history of domestic violence, according to his attorney, Tony Dalton.</p><p>Dalton told the court that his client is "an EMT, firefighter and was in the U.S. Air Force until he was honorably discharged in the fall of last year. He is a disabled policeman from the Fletcher Police Department." He told the judge that McGraw "built his life doing public service."</p><p>Assistant District Attorney Beth Dierauf said McGraw had been given an ultimatum by his mistress to tell Mintz about the affair.</p><p>McGraw's most recent appearance in court was in October, when it was decided he would not face the death penalty and his bond was set at $750,000. He remains in Polk County jail. The next court date for McGraw has not been determined, according to the Polk County Clerk of Court's office.</p><p><b>Woman's charred remains found along Parkway</b></p><p>The charred remains of a pregnant Mountain Home woman were found by a passerby along the Blue Ridge Parkway near mile marker 395 in Buncombe County in October 2009.</p><p>An autopsy report showed 21-year-old Misty Lynn Carter died of chop wounds to the head. The North Henderson High School graduate was six weeks pregnant. A driver spotted her unclothed body on the side of the Parkway at 6:32 a.m. Oct. 19, 2009.</p><p>Investigators suspect Carter was not alive when her body was set on fire. According to investigative reports, Carter was found with a singed sheet and melted plastic wrapped around her head.</p><p>Jermaine Deprie Glover, 39, was indicted for first-degree murder by a grand jury and is being held in the Henderson County Detention Center under a $1 million bond. His address was listed as the same as Carter's, but he was not the father of her unborn child.</p><p>His public defender, Todd Williams, said that at the time of the crime, Glover had traveled to South Carolina and returned to Henderson County later that night.</p><p>Glover's next court date is set for Feb. 25.</p><p>Reach Weaver at emily.weaver@blueridgenow.com or 828-694-7867.</p>